Recently took in a podcast on Max Weber. Like a lot of famous European intellectuals, he is someone I only know as a name on the spine of books I retrieved for BU students when I worked in Mugar library. Weber (1864-1920) was one of the folks that invented Sociology, which it seemed like everyone at BU needed to take.
But let’s get to the story. The discussion in this episode of BBC’s In Our Times centered on Weber’s writings on Charisma – more specifically Charismatic Authority.
The question asked is ‘what makes people obey?’ Well, this a question that just came up at lunch yesterday. Each of us at lunch had former friends, seemingly intelligent, who have seen their way to disenfranchise their political opponents (us) by insisting Donald Trump is president of the United States. How does something like this happen? Hasn’t happened before in my life. Some people obey a hypnotic watch swung by Trump who I now have to admit is charismatic at the same time he is an Insane Conniving Clown.
But let’s get to Weber. Weber put the story of Charismatic Authority into this context: There are three ways of authority – 1-Traditional; 2-Bureaucratic and 3-Extraordinary powers of an individual. In the latter, which is at the heart of this story, a power is invested into a person that is set apart by qualities not accessible to ordinary persons. They have an innate power to appeal to the enchanted and mysterious, so are more powerful than more rational forms of authority. So says Max Weber.
Now I am not sure if Weber held this or t’was the eru-di-tees on the podcast panel but it makes sense: “The tragedy of the modern world is that it is not mysterious -the spirit of rationalization has engulfed us (I suspect my family would agree with this, as everything I say seems to be too rational as time goes by), bureaucracy has engorged us.” Gotta stand and face it: Charismatics like Trump just do things differently.
Charismatic Authority leads to emotional bonds. It transcends everyday concerns. It is the moment of new history. The loose cannon has attraction.
In the 60s the word ‘charisma’ was like ‘relevant’ or ‘pop’ or ‘Tang’. I grew up with it.
The great carrier of charisma was no doubt John Kennedy. He was magnetic, and telegenic, in the TV age. Podcast panelists point this out, as they do the role paintings, newspapers and radio played in the rise of charismatic figures beginning with George Washington and Napoleon. This naturally makes one wonder about the role of the new media in the rise of the new charismatic…the Internet is important, fair to say cable TV too.
“The Internet became a platform for people that didn’t have one. It’s had a effect on charisma,” said Linda Woodhead at King's College London.
She continued: “This is an age in which new emotional forms of connection are generated by new technologies” and new groupings of people are formed too. These new groupings are more likely to watch Fox News and less likely to listen to BBC podcasts.
There is hope: Defeats can undo charismatics.
- Jack Vaughan
We have some extra time here to say : In Our Times has been a constant companion for a number of years. It’s old style: A panel of experts on science, history and assorted topics of true erudition. Melvin Bragg, the moderator, is a master of the panel discussion. Food for thought.
Related:
In Our Times Web site https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl
Charisma Episode https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0015b6r
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